Civil Rights Park Sites Get Funding Boost for Milestone Year
Photo Credit: The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel was the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and is among the top 10 highlighted attractions on the new U.S. Civil Rights Trail. National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel
Skift Take
It seems like the Trump administration is trying to support civil rights sites during a very important milestone year. But the funding for the site grants comes from controversial oil drilling revenues the administration is seeking to grow, and possibly expand to other national park sites.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced that civil rights national park sites will get $13 million this year as part of the federal fiscal 2018 budget approved last month, a significant boost that coincides with the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination this week.
The funding, which will go towards preserving the civil rights movement sites that are part of the park system, is nearly 62 percent higher than the $8 million the U.S. Congress allocated for civil rights park sites in 2016, and about 3 percent higher than last year's $12.6 million funding.
Some 51 projects in 24 U.S. states benefited from last year's funding, such as the home of civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell in Washington, D.C. and the Memphis Heritage Trail in Tennessee. The 2018 grant application for the most recent funding isn't available yet.
Last month, Memphis launched the Memphis Heritage Trail, a 60-block area in downtown and south Memphis that celebrates African
